The government announced plans for a Children's Bill. The Bill would create a children's commissioner for England, authorise the creation of an electronic file on every child in the country, and provide for education departments and children's social services to be amalgamated into children's trusts.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, 26 November 2003, columns 4-7 (Queen's Speech), TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Queen's Speech | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Nov
A joint committee of MPs and peers welcomed the 'many positive aspects' of both the Green Paper on children's services and the government s response to a previous committee report on children's rights, and in particular the commitment to establish a children s commissioner for England. But it also noted some 'omissions and shortcomings' in the government s response concerning its obligations under the United Nations convention on children's rights; in particular, the use of the convention as a framework for policy; the treatment of children in the criminal justice system; and the defence of 'reasonable chastisement'.
Source: Government's Response to the Committee's Tenth Report of Session 2002-03 on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Eighteenth Report (Session 2002-03), HL 187 and HC 1279, Joint Committee on Human Rights (House of Lords and House of Commons), TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report (pdf) | Tenth report | Community Care report
Date: 2003-Nov
An all-party parliamentary group called on the government to incorporate the United Nations convention on the rights of the child into United Kingdom law. They welcomed the government's plans for children's trusts to bring together education, children's social services and other agencies, but said they should be piloted before being implemented nationally.
Source: Report by All-Party Parliamentary Group for Primary Care and Public Health, reported in The Guardian, 20 October 2003
Links: Guardian report | Community Care article
Date: 2003-Oct
A report summarised key developments in children s human rights in England over the 12 months since the publication (in October 2002) of a United Nations report on the United Kingdom s implementation of the convention on children's rights. The report welcomed plans for an independent commissioner for children's rights in England, and the publication of a Green Paper on the protection of children. But it said the juvenile justice system continued to deny children their human rights; that legislation permitted segregated accommodation centres for asylum-seeking children and their families; and that 'reasonable chastisement' remained a defence to the smacking of children. It also said that nearly 1 in 3 children continued to live in poverty, bringing with it 'enormous health, educational and social inequalities'.
Source: Convention on the Rights of the Child: Review of UK Government Action on 2002 Concluding Observations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, Children's Rights Alliance for England (020 7278 8222)
Links: Report (pdf) | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | Community Care article
Date: 2003-Oct
The government published a Green Paper on reforming children s services in England, designed to 'protect children from neglect and harm and ensure that each child is able to fulfil their potential'. Proposals included: integrated teams of social workers and health and education professionals, based in schools and the new children s centres; removal of barriers to information sharing, to improve communication between those responsible for children; appointment of a 'children s director' in every local authority, responsible for bringing all children s services together as children s trusts; new duties on the police, health service and other agencies to work together to safeguard children; and the appointment of an independent 'children s commissioner' to champion children s views. Local authorities welcomed the Green Paper but warned against enforced structural change.
Source: Every Child Matters, Green Paper Cm 5860, HM Treasury, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 8 September 2003, columns 21-35, TSO | Press release 9 September 2003, Local Government Association (020 7664 3000)
Links: Green Paper (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | Hansard | DfES press release | PM speech | LGA press release | LGA briefing (pdf) | GSCC/NCSC/Topss/SCIE joint press release | NCB press release | NCH press release | UNISON press release | ADSS press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Sep
A new book brought together the papers presented during 2001 and 2002 at a series of seminars on age diversity (organised by the Institute for Public Policy Research). The papers examined the nature of the ageing process, and analysed the concept of age equality. Separate chapters critically assessed issues relating to employment, education, health and discrimination against children.
Source: Sandra Fredman and Sarah Spencer (eds.), Age as an Equality Issue: Legal and policy perspectives, Hart Publishing (01865 245533)
Links: Summary
Date: 2003-Sep
The first Commissioner for Children and Young People in Northern Ireland was appointed on 26 June 2003, prior to taking up office on 1 October 2003.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Answers 3.7.03, column 466W, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard
Date: 2003-Jul
A private member's Bill was introduced to establish a commissioner for children's rights in England.
Source: Paul Burstow MP, Children's Commissioner for England Bill, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Bill
Date: 2003-Jun
A report by a joint committee of MPs and peers on children's rights called for the removal of the defence of 'reasonable chastisement'; condemned the number and treatment of children in prison; expressed concern over bullying in schools, female genital mutilation, and the lack of children s mental health services; and reiterated their call for a children's commissioner for England.
Source: The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Tenth Report (Session 2002-03), HL 117 and HC 81, Joint Committee on Human Rights (House of Lords and House of Commons), TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | CRAE press release (Word file)
Date: 2003-Jun
The Law Society said that, according to a survey it had conducted, the average waiting time for the allocation of a guardian for children in family court proceedings was 24 working days. It said: 'We are seriously concerned about this shortage of appropriately qualified children s guardians who can deal with public law cases'. (The Society conducted a survey of its children panel members in February 2003, asking about their experiences of working with the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service.)
Source: Press release 28.5.03, Law Society (020 7242 1222)
Links: Press release
Date: 2003-May
Social services directors said that the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service should consider working with them and with the Department of Health on a workforce strategy. This would contribute to the development of a pool of highly skilled children s social workers, from which children s guardians could be drawn. They also said that the Service should strengthen its training and performance management arrangements to ensure greater consistency in the interpretation of the children s guardian roles, to improve practice standards and to minimise delays.
Source: Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS): Submission to the Committee of the Lord Chancellor s Department, Association of Directors of Social Services (020 8741 8147)
Links: Report
Date: 2003-May
A joint committee of MPs and peers recommended the establishment of a children's commissioner for England (in line with those existing or proposed in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland). It said that a commissioner could encourage more and better listening to children, be a champion for children's interests at the national level of decision making, help children assert their rights in a positive and constructive way, and help create a culture of respect for the fundamental principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child within the public bodies responsible for looking after children.
Source: The Case for a Children's Commissioner for England, Ninth Report (Session 2002-03), HL 96 and HC 666, Joint Committee on Human Rights (House of Lords and House of Commons), TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Children's Society press release | CRAE press release (Word file) | NSPCC press release
Date: 2003-May
Research found that children's voices were not being heard in family proceedings, in public or private law cases, in the way that was intended by the Children Act 1989 or in line with their rights under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Source: Adrian James and Allison James, Constructing Children's Welfare: Comparative study of professional practice, Economic and Social Research Council (01793 413000)
Links: ESRC Press Release
Date: 2003-May
A report criticised the government for failing in its own stated policy aim to limit the number of children being sentenced to custody. It also argued that levels of child imprisonment in England and Wales constituted a continued breach of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Source: A Failure of Justice: Reducing child imprisonment, National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (020 7582 6500)
Links: NACRO press release
Date: 2003-Apr
The country's most senior woman judge criticised the way children were treated in the legal system - in particular children in care, child offenders, and children whose parents separate. She called for an 'in-depth reconsideration' of how the justice system and the wider community should be responding to the needs of children and their parents.
Source: Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, 'Are we failing the family?: Human rights, children and the meaning of family in the 21st century', Paul Sieghart Memorial Lecture, British Institute of Human Rights/King's College London (020 7401 2712)
Links: Text of lecture (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Apr
A campaign group set out a detailed case for creating a children's rights commissioner for England. It said the proposal was supported by more than 120 organisations, including all the major children's charities.
Source: The Case for a Children s Rights Commissioner for England, Children's Rights Alliance for England (020 7278 8222)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf)
Date: 2003-Mar
The government said it would ratify the 'optional protocol' to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict. (The protocol encourages governments to raise the age of voluntary recruitment into armed forces, and requires states to take all feasible measures to ensure that children under 18 do not take a direct part in hostilities.) But the government said it retained the right to send children under 18 into battle if there is a 'genuine military need' or due to the nature and urgency of the situation: campaigners said this undermined the spirit of the protocol, and called for an end to the military recruitment and deployment of anyone under 18 in armed conflict.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 24.2.03, column 8WS, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Press release 25.2.03, Amnesty International UK (020 7814 6241)
Links: Hansard | AIUK press release | Text of Protocol
Date: 2003-Feb
The National Care Standards Commission said that it had decided that the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child will be used by all NCSC staff in making decisions that affect any child in a service or establishment regulated by the Commission. (The NCSC is the independent regulator for social care and private and voluntary healthcare services.)
Source: Press release 4.2.03, National Care Standards Commission (0191 233 3600)
Links: Press release
Date: 2003-Feb